City Variance Process Unchanged

Torrance home builders who want to exceed the limits the city places on the square footage of a house will have to wait at least a few more months before the City Council considers changing the current process, council members decided Tuesday.

City planners had recommended that the council allow builders to exceed the limits if they widened all the setbacks surrounding a single-family house. Currently, the square footage of a new house in Torrance may not exceed 60% of the square footage of the lot on which it sits.

Although a property owner can apply for a variance from that limit by appearing at a formal Planning Commission hearing, planners had hoped to simplify the process. Council members, however, said that before they would change the procedure, the planners would have to present evidence that residents want to replace the current variance system.